Vissen in een aquarium 1876 - 1924

This is Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof's "Vissen in een aquarium," a graphite drawing on paper. Instead of traditional painting, Dijsselhof opted for the directness of drawing, capturing the movement of fish in an aquarium with swift, economical lines. The visible strokes and smudges remind us of the artist's hand and the immediacy of his observations. What’s interesting is that the material, humble as it is, doesn't diminish the drawing’s impact. The unfinished quality, with calculations scribbled around the central image, suggests the intimacy of the artist's studio practice, making visible the labor and process of creation. The choice of such accessible materials reflects a broader social context, a shift from the high-art conventions of oil painting to more democratic and accessible modes of expression. Dijsselhof’s sketch invites us to reconsider the value we place on the materials and processes of art, blurring the lines between the preliminary and the finished, the fine art and the craft.